If it’s freezing it could be a code issue. A quick check you can do is open up the dev tools console to see if you’re seeing any errors - those may give clues to a problem app or code issue. If you’re not familiar, here’s how you do that: https://speedboostr.com/finding-and-fixing-console-errors.
For your store locator app, it’s possible that it’s loading on every page, even if it’s only being used on one page. We see this pretty often, and recommend the solution to conditionally load apps - only load them on the page they’re being used.
For example, if your store locator is only needed on a page called /store-locator, but the app script is placed in theme.liquid and loading on every page, then you can add some code to conditionally load it, here’s an example:
{% if page.handle == "store-locator" %}
put the script / snippet that loads the app here
{% endif %}
I don’t know of a list of speed ranking of apps, but I wouldn’t worry about it specifically, rather, I would optimize what’s possible, then optimize the apps you’re using as much as possible (with tactics like I mentioned above), and just be cognizant that store facing apps will slow your load speed - but being an ecommerce site if those apps help you get sales and conversions, it’s worth keeping them.
Google PSI that you mentioned is for general sites, most ecommerce sites we’ve tested don’t score well (especially if using 3rd party resources like apps), but score does not equal speed, the tool makes an estimation based on algorithms when crawling your site.
Recommended Solution (from Shopify optimization experts, speedboostr.com)
-
To see the key optimization points for a Shopify site run your site through the Shopify Analyzer. That’s a free tool we built for the community. There are details and recommendations / links to guides when you click through on the warnings.
-
After those optimization are taken care of, you can then do more advanced tactics like Preloading and App Optimization.
-
Do a code analysis (start with console errors, then read your theme.liquid file, that will likely reveal the majority of potential problems), and fix any problems.
If you need help with anything, or would like a free analysis, feel free to reach out to us at speedboostr.com/contact. Our team of Shopify developers focus on optimization and have optimized over 1500+ Shopify stores, but also build features, apps, themes, and make general website modifications.